Case Number 08482

BENNY HILL COMPLETE AND UNADULTERATED: THE HILL'S ANGELS YEARS: SET FOUR (1978-1981)

The Charge

"I'm not against naked women. Not as often as I'd like to be." --
Benny Hill.

Opening Statement

A&E turns loose the fourth boxed set of Benny Hill's bawdy and uncut
television show. This edition features episodes broadcast from 1978-81. The
package is resplendent with beautiful, half-naked women displaying cleavage and
cheeks galore, plus lewd humor, deranged slapstick, silly songs and some of the
funniest high-speed chases ever shown on British television. "Yes, it's the
Benny Hill Show!" as the announcer enthused each week before rosy-cheeked
Benny and his band of merry pranksters produced belly laughs equal to those of
their only serious rivals on television during the 1970s -- Monty Python's
Flying Circus.

Facts of the Case

British funnyman Benny Hill made a handful of movies (The Italian Job,
starring Michael Caine, is perhaps the most enduring), but his forté was
always comedy. Hill specialized in songs with scandalous lyrics, although his
penchant for slapstick revitalized a form that had all but died with The Three
Stooges. Still, with a distinguishing spark of intelligence, Hill's act was
infinitely superior to anything by Curly, Moe, and Larry.

This latest three-disc box plays up the lovely Hill's Angels, who were a
late introduction to the show -- Benny Hill had been on the air for a decade
before he formally added a baker's dozen of beautiful babes to his formula.
Their function was unmistakable: to wiggle and jiggle provocatively while
serving as wide-eyed foils for the leering Hill. Yes, and they managed to be
gorgeous with no effort at all.

Now, before women reading this review blow a gasket, it's important to note
that even though the show was criticized for frequently lecherous comedy, Hill
and the other men on the program were such buffoons that there was never any
hope they would consummate their clumsy seductions. If anything, in terms of
sophistication, the women on The Benny Hill Show were light years beyond
their television contemporaries in America, like the bimbos of Charlie's
Angels or Three's Company.

Regardless, Benny Hill understood there should be more to life than just
sex: There should be cigarettes for smoking afterwards.

The Evidence

The Benny Hill Show was broadcast in more than 100 countries during a
20-year run that began in 1969 on Britain's ITV. It remains in syndication (on
BBC America since 2004), although few Americans had seen an uncut program until
A&E launched this series of unadulterated episodes on DVD. When Benny Hill
first appeared in the United States in 1979, Thames Television produced edited
versions of the original 50-minute shows, removing most of Benny's racier
material and hacking whole sketches to fit the programs into a half-hour U.S.
time slot. Unlike the original Region 2 United Kingdom DVD sets featuring this
program, A&E has taken the thoughtful step of presenting the episodes not
only uncut but in order of the original broadcast dates. Kudos to A&E.

Some of the topical and English political humor is obviously dated, while
many of Hill's little subreferences and asides are by now either anachronisms or
remain a subtle part of British culture. So contemporary U.S. viewers shouldn't
expect to get all the jokes. This doesn't really matter.

Hill's occasional high-speed antics are the best part of these programs.
Like live cartoons, Benny and his band of lunatics slap-dash all over the
countryside at pixilated speed (the technique of animating people so it appears
they can accomplish the incredible). This enables the comedian to fly into
trees, run insane wheelchair races down mountain roads, climb walls, and
generally act very silly. In between this mischief, Benny will occasionally
pause and paw a beautiful woman's breasts, with an accompanying
"a-oooga" on the soundtrack. Yep, most guys (if they're honest) think
this sort of thing is hysterically funny. That's just how it is.

So let's be clear: Benny Hill was a rambunctious and damn-funny
son-of-a-bitch. (Full disclosure: I have a seven-year-old son and, although I
would not let him watch any of the racy material on these discs, both of us were
on the floor sputtering with laughter at some of Hill's warp-speed
shenanigans.)

Virtually all of the episodes end with Hill being persecuted by dozens of
people chasing him on foot at what appears to be 75 mph, across acres of open
land, as his theme song, "Yakety Sax," wails over the credits. This
nonsense was a highlight of my misspent youth -- when I wasn't studying the
films of Bergman, Fellini, Kubrick, and Hitchcock, of course.

All this low-brow comedy contrasts nicely with Hill's other sketches
involving rhetorical acrobatics and especially his songs, which are frightfully
witty miracles of rhyme, rhythm, and sly wordplay.

Video and audio look and sound terrific for source material that's nearly 30
years old. No complaints on either score. But the extras are limited to a short
featurette and an interactive trivia quiz -- not much for such an expensive
boxed set.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Some of Benny Hill's material has dated badly, though it remains gleefully
politically incorrect. Feminists may cringe, but guys of a certain age and
outlook will find these shows irresistible, especially if beer is involved.

Closing Statement

A&E packs plenty of nostalgia into these boxed sets, although extras are
scant considering the price (suggested retail hovers around $40 for this
three-disc set).

The Verdict

Guilty of causing convulsive laughter, The Benny Hill Show is hereby
free to continue annoying the uptight and prudish while amusing those of us who
never grow tired of Benny chasing (but never catching) beautiful bikini-clad
women. The delightful Hill's Angels act like they'd rather do nothing more in
this world than go-go dance and shake their fine, mmm-hmmm, selves. This court
turns them loose, too. Res ipsa yowsah.